$7 Million and counting

In 2002 Craig Dunn and his surfing mate Danny Lewis were killed in the Bali bombings. They were 18 years old. Since then, Craig’s mother Gayle has led a campaign raising over $7 million to create a living memorial for the benefit of the local community in Ulladulla NSW.

When she was 18, Gayle Dunn and a girlfriend left home for a camping weekend on the south coast of NSW and never returned. They slept under picnic tables and lived off the land before Gayle overcame her seasickness to work on the fishing boats out of Ulladulla harbour. Later she married a fisherman and together they built and fished their own boats. Their oldest son Craig went out to sea with them from when he was ten days old.

In 1995, as a sole parent, Gayle took her three children on a camping trip around Australia. ‘I love camping. For six weeks every Christmas I would set up camp at the beach and all the local kids would come. I’ve always had an open house. Lots of kids have stayed with me when they had nowhere else to go.’

‘After the bombings, the kids here were struggling, doing drugs and drinking. They took it really badly. Facilities and opportunities for young people in the Ulladulla area were seriously lacking. So I organised a dance party and the kids came up with the idea of a living memorial. My job was to do something about it – to give them something Craig never had.’

In June 2003, when the legal side of the Dunn Lewis Youth Development Foundation was in place, Gayle began fundraising.

‘It has been full time for the past ten years. I can work 18-20 hours a day. I’m not a political person so I wrote or rang everywhere. I got letters back from The White House, Prince Charles and Downing Street. I took out a personal loan to travel and see whoever I could ask for money. AngryAnderson, Marty Rhone and quite a few others helped get us going. There were lots of times when I was out of my league and out of my comfort zone - at The Sydney Opera House, Swans games and with corporate sponsors. When I started $1000 was a lot to me so I learned to take all the zeros off when I was dealing in large amounts. It’s all instinct. I have had no training in anything.’

‘In 2007 we started building the Dunn Lewis Memorial Centre which opened on September 11th 2010. We’ve raised $2.75 million from the community and local businesses and $4.5 million from government grants. It's bricks and mortar but it’s also a place for reflection and remembering. There is the bowling alley, an art gallery/conference room and a space where people can gather together. We run courses for kids who could slip through the cracks at school and we provide an open door for them when others have shut. The next stage, which has already started, includes court sports, rock climbing, an auditorium and a recording studio.’

‘The best time is when you see all the generations interacting. The kids are my inspiration. You know the saying: It takes a community to raise a child.’

‘When we finish this, I plan to start on the Trauma Retreat – out in the bush on the river. It’s a place for people to come after a critical incident. That’s another story. I would be House Mother out there. I haven’t been camping for years.’